This invention relates generally to laser beam technology used in surgical procedures, and more specifically to an improved optical fiber laser device which allows for any hazardous surgical laser smoke plume, created as a result of lasering body tissue, to be safely evacuated from the patient's body and into a sealed suction device. In this way neither the treated body nor the surgical atmosphere are damaged or polluted by any viable microorganisms that may possibly be contained within the surgical laser smoke plume.
Studies published by Garden, J. et al, (1988) Papillomavirus in the Vapor Carbon Dioxide Laser--Treated Verrucae, JAMA 259:1199-1202 and also by Walker, N. et al (1986) Possible Hazards from Irradiation with the Carbon Dioxide Laser, LASERS IN SURGERY AND MEDICINE, 6:84-86 have shown that certain types of virulent DNA have been detected intact within the smoke plume that survive the vaporization of infected tissue by a laser.
A laser beam passing through a needle probe has been used as a tool for performing various surgical procedures, such as excising, cutting and denaturing various types of body tissues, and has also been used previously for various surgical procedures such as eye surgery (as in cataracts), removal of polyps of the vocal cords, growths in the intestinal tract, meniscectomies in the knee and arthroscopic debridement of various joints for synovitis.
No prior art, however, has provided a means to efficiently remove the potentially hazardous surgical laser smoke plume, which is produced as a result of cauterizing deep body tissue, from a treated body and the surrounding surgical atmosphere.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for safely and effectively removing surgical laser smoke plume from the treated body and surrounding surgical atmosphere, thereby keeping the patient, surgeons and their attending staff free from coming in contact with possibly hazardous viable cell tissues, viral DNA, carbonized tissue, surgical odors and sub-micron laser smoke debris.